Friday, September 3, 2010

The Iceman Cometh

Tools of the ice trade of the 1800 and early 1900's. One of the most amazing of which is the horse hair coat up in the corner of the picture. When I first looked at it, I thought it was something else. Aren't we lucky we live in a day of refridgeration? All of these pictures are taken at the Museum in Montrose, Iowa.
The ice company from Montrose. This is such a great picture even though it's so full of reflections. My Grandpa Geilmann used to be an ice man. He told me the story of his boss's wife who wanted him. One day he came in to deliver the ice and she was standing there stark naked. Grandpa quickly put the ice in the ice box and hurried out to his wagon. She followed him to the porch and quarried, "Hank, don't ya have nothing to say to a naked lady?" Grandpa jiggled on the reins to give the horses the signal to "getty up" and said without looking back, "Put your clothes on, lady, you're scarin the horses."

Picture of people from 1880 cutting the frozen Mississippi River to put into wood shavings to be kept cold for the "long hot summer"


Pictures of various ice tools used in the 1800's and early 1900's



Equipment for gettting ice out of the frozen Mississippi River.




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